ABF Tech Division R56 turbo back exhaust system
 

Since the release of more tuning software has become available for the R56 we have been striving to develop a turbo back exhaust system that would make the most of the cars potential. Several muffler types, piping size/ material, cats, resonators, and hardware were put to the test on both the street and the track in an effort to achieve power as well as a quality exhaust tone. After several months of testing we have finished and are proud to announce the development of the ABF TECH DIVISION TURBO BACK EXHAUST SYSTEM.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co.../IMGP02541.JPGhttps://www.northamericanmotoring.co.../IMGP02541.JPG

All our piping is seamless 2.5" 304 stainless steel, mandrel bent, and hand polished to a mirror finish.
No plating or coating to crack and chip. The downpipe flange to the
turbo housing is 0.5" stainless steel water jet cut to ensure perfect fitment
and seal.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...0/IMGP0270.JPGhttps://www.northamericanmotoring.co...0/IMGP0270.JPG

No gaskets or cheap mounting hardware are used.
Only high quality Reid Washborn v-bands make it
on our exhaust systems.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...m/IMGP0269.JPGhttps://www.northamericanmotoring.co...m/IMGP0269.JPG

Full tig weld construction.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...m/IMGP0260.JPGhttps://www.northamericanmotoring.co...m/IMGP0260.JPG

This photo was taken near the end of testing prior to polishing,
but the excellent tuck and fitment can be seen.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co.../photo1181.JPGhttps://www.northamericanmotoring.co.../photo1181.JPG

Initial designs for our exhaust system included a catalytic converter, but because there are no cats available that meet California or federal 49 state standards we decided not to include one. This was done to get as much power out of the exhaust since we saw no point in adding a restrictive cat that would be illegal anyways.

The offset inlet muffler and large diameter resonator were chosen to eliminate the raspy tin sound often produced with small displacement 4 cylinder engines. The end result is a deep powerful tone.

To avoid damage to the fan and valve cover we made sure all the factory heat shields could still be used with no cutting or modifications.

The 2.5" pipe was chosen after we saw there was not a significant power loss over our 3" designs. Fitment quality and sound were also taken into consideration when making this choice as well.

We didn't want to make this exhaust available just on the merits of our R&D alone so we made sure that customers we did make it available for were completely happy first. After 10 sales and nothing but positives feedback, we are confident it is ready for the Mini community.

A software flash or tuning is required for proper vehicle function after installing this exhaust system. Only vehicles with an Alta Access Port or like device should install this product. AP maps written for vehicles with this exhaust and other mods will be provided with the purchase of this exhaust system.

MSRP is set at $1500, but we are going to offer it at an introductory price of $1350.

All the following graphs are from the same 2010 MCS and read as follows:

Solid line = ABF Turbo Back and Alta/Cobb AP STG 2 tune
Close space dash line = Alta/Cobb AP STG 2 tune
Wide space dash line = Stock with JCW Tuning Kit

This graph shows the over all HP and TQ of the test car at several points of tune and modification.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ni_all-001.jpg

This graph shows just HP from the three test runs.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ini_hp-001.jpg

This graph shows just TQ from the three test runs.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ini_tq-001.jpg

At peak there is a 32HP and 41 TQ gain over stock and a 10 HP and 5 TQ gain over the AP STG 2 map and no mods.

In most of the mid range HP numbers increase with gains upwards of 38 HP over stock and 20 HP over the AP STG 2 map by it self.

The turbo spools much quicker so peak TQ is achieved earlier on in the RPM range. TQ also holds high dropping off very little until the 4500 range. At that point though HP is built up quite nicely and the car continues to pull strong to the upper RPM range.

We did run into some heat soak issues on the dyno because of the stock intercooler. With a more efficient intercooler the customer cars pulled less timing up top and power did not drop off as much. On the street the intake temps don't get as high and performance feels much better then on the dyno with out it, however it is still recommended that an upgraded intercooler be installed for hard driving.

Here is some video clips to demonstrate sound ( turn up the BASS! )
Idle and standing revs


Launch


Light acceleration and cruising interior


Hard acceleration interior


**NOTE** The graphs and videos were added at a later date then the original post. Some of the following post will reflect this.

Back when I was picking up my car from getting the motor built last year, I was talking to Hubie. He was telling me about the exhaust system he was developing for the R56, that it was meant merely for all out performance with the added benefit of a MEAN sound. It was run on the 2010 JCW R56 ABF Street Class Redline Time Attack car during the 2010 season and.... it was undefeated all season. I have heard it in person and its the best sounding exhaust for the R56 so much so at one moment you could confuse it for a V8.

looks outstanding.

should get a video up....

+1 for a video.

I wanna hear this thing!

No cats and it is still $1500?

Competitors are selling turbo back exhausts with two cats for under $1400..

If you sold it for $1000 I think you'd have a hit.

Motor Mouth,

I agree at $1000 I'd have to get mine right now. Maybe if William Shattner starts selling them on priceline we will get to name our price. :)

If ABF would post some impressive dynos and sound clips with Mini's at different stages of modification the value of this exhaust might be easier to understand. So come on ABF show us what you got!!!

A video is on the way. Right now all the customer cars we have access too have other mods and we would like to put up a video of a MCS with just the exhaust. My car was a perfect candidate, but I sold the exhaust off it to a customer that fell in love with it after a test drive. So once I get a new one back on there we will shoot a video and post it.



Your right $1500 can seem steep when compared to many of our competitors, but it is our competitors that drove us to produce this exhaust. That was in fact the first thing we questioned when designing our system, "what has the competition put on the market already". From what we found the old saying you get what you pay for came to mind right away.
It was because of this we set out to produce an exhaust system that would be made of highest quality components and material, but not so crazy that only a handful of people could enjoy it. In the end there are really only couple that come close to comparison. Even then when you look into things like muffler/resonator designs, v-band types, and material used, exhaust that look similar but priced a little less don't meet the same standards as ours.

I am interested and only about 20 miles from you guys so if I could see some proof in dyno form and sound clips that you have indeed developed a higher performing and better sounding exhaust I could be customer #11.

You say you have sold this exhaust to 10 happy Mini owners and I would think it is safe to assume that the 10 Mini's were not all modded alike so of the 10 happy customers some one must have dynoed or if not for sure you must have dynoed for your own company's product development. So please post some dynos and sound clips so we can see why your system is better than some of the less expensive.

BTW I have a 2009 factory JCW with Helix I/C, NM hot & coldside tubes , JCW round intake,and Cobb A/P so if you have any results for someting close to this configuration or any other please post.

That should not be a problem. Most of customers that bought the exhaust also had us install intake, I/C and the AP with our map. Typically we sell KnN and Forge for intake and I/C, but i think the results will be similar given what you have installed. We'll get that graph up soon.

MCS with the ABF TD turbo back exhaust, Forge I/C, KnN intake, and the Cobb AP with one of our maps.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...o_tune-001.jpg

This is still a pretty conservative tune designed for safety and daily driving. This owner hits the canyons and track quite a bit though and loves the way the car feels.


**NOTE** The graph that was here was removed to avoid confusion with the graphs in the O/P **NOTE**

That JCW is tuned? Numbers look way low...especially for an AP-based tune on a JCW.

I'm assuming the gain shown on the graph is the gain from your turboback only? (seeing as that's what your trying to showcase here...)

However, the "before" dyno is right on par for a stock JCW. So I'm a little confused at the "after" dyno....you say the car is tuned and has the TBE, but the gains don't add up here.....

Also, another side question, doo you sell the DP only...it looks too long to be sold by itself.....(aka will hook up to stock-length catbacks...)

I'm also very confused by the results... seems like a lot of $$$ spent to gain 20-25hp and maybe 30 ftlbs torque? :confused:

Thumper,

I was thinking the same thing the way ABF is presenting this info it look like a JCW with the ABF TD turbo back exhaust, Forge I/C, KnN intake, and the Cobb AP with one of ABF maps is producing total gains of 26HP & 31lbs of torque.

If this dyno is showing the gain of just the addition of the exhaust then that is HUGE but the way it is posted it looks like this is total gains of all mods listed. So for right now confused and disapointed.

Sorry, but I'm thoroughly unimpressed. I have much more with just an IC and tune.

edit: with the update that it was not a JCW but an MCS it is better. I'd rather see the before and after numbers without a tune though as those numbers ar every similar to what I had on my 07 S with a tune, IC, intake, and stock exhaust. The after graph is purely only from more tuning which tells us nothing about the exhaust.

I do apologize for the typo and the confusion. The graph and info posted above are from a MCS and not a JCW as a few of you noticed. I'm not goign to lie i would have taken a double take too if I thought that was a JCW. The rest of the information is correct however.

To add some further clarification the before portion of the graph shows mods added with the Alta base map. The second is after further tuning. Also keep in mind the map was written by cobb to improve the cars performance, but keep it safe for daily use.

We are working on getting track specific maps that utilize these mods a little more, but are still in the process of working the kinks out before making them available.

At this time no we have not made plans to sell the downpipe separate.
Currently we only have the system set up to be a full turbo back. The downpipe is longer then stock to place the V-band in the open space just behind the oil pan letting us tuck it up in a little more. It is also turned more towards the trans to move it away from the sump in the pan and creates a straighter connection to the rest of the exhaust.

Depending on the response and general satisfaction of this system we may offer a options like a separate DP, cat back, pipe size, ect.

Are you guys working with Mynes on creating maps with the Cobb Access Port? How is that coming along?

This looks like a remake of the riss racing version. The akrapovic exhaust is starting to look better

We were rather fortunate to have Cobb SoCal open up about 5 miles from us.
Tuning and maps are provided by them.

Those numbers on a MCS, even with the mods listed, puts this product in the realm of a worthwhile mod.

I would suggest you consider offering your product in as many configurations as is economical. The market for MINI exhaust systems is pretty limited to begin with, no point in limiting it even further.

You might also consider a turbo back for the Clubman, besides Alta, I don't think anyone offers one.

Good Luck :thumbsup:

So the before numbers are all the hardware and mild tune? The after numbers are the same hardware with a little more aggressive tune?

Why even show us? It tells us nothing about the exhaust. It only shows that a more aggressive tune gives more power. :roll:

I had a virtually identical numbers on my 07 with just tune, ic, and intercooler.

I'm not trying to be a hardnose, but you've shown us nothing of substance.

What you should do:

Show us a stock car graph, then put only the exhaust on the same stock car and show us that graph.

Then you can show us a modded car with stock exhaust, then add your exhaust without changing anything else and show us that one.

Have you been able to tune the air/fuel mapping so the car doesn't think it's running super lean with this cat-less design? I'm not totally sure, doesn't the R56 ECU run a richer A/F ratio when a downpipe related CEL shows up?

Thanks for your insight!

Does this mean that the base map and the more aggressive map both came from Cobb.

The exhaust looks nice...but their pricing is WAY out of whack here. Especially for a catless downpipe. Maybe if it was Ti??

You can buy a hybrid K03/JCW turbo for around the same price as this exhaust. Something that actually, without a question, provides huge gains.

This ABF exhaust offering sure has alot of members interested and posting and it seems like many of us want to see some reason to consider the ABF exhaust for purchase but so far there is no proof that it offers any performance gains above any of the other much less costly products. If ABF can't show some simple before and after ABF exhaust dynos then how are we to determine if the ABF exhaust delivers any power gains.

Ummm I can get the Magnaflow CB 16815 for $536.48. I can't see how the ABF is going to give anymore power than that for more than twice the price...

Your not going to make life easy are you? It's cool though, We don't mind the questions and know how it is when deciding what mods to place on our cars too.

The AP tuning software can disable the the code. With out it almost any catless DP will through a code with in 40-50 miles. We have yet to have any cat related codes show up running the maps written for cars with this exhaust. To add to the question of A/F, the tunes is slightly on the rich side. Not a lot, but just enough to provide some buffer for safety.

Lets be a little fair here. We always planed on getting dyno numbers and vids up. They were just not ready yet. However there was a request for numbers from a car with similar mods and the exhaust. Despite the fact it is the week end, I am at home and don't have charts on me, I was able to get one via email from that particular customer so there could be some perspective as to what one may expect. Vids and dynos will be posted. We just wanted to show one from a car that had only the exhaust on it. This has been difficult as every car we installed the exhaust on had other mods and no dyno history. Believe me we would like to give you as much incentive to go with this exhaust, but are asking for little patience. We will post better data soon.

That is some what correct. The base tune we had when tuning this car was still fairly new and not really up to par with what Alta offers now. This is why we had cobb tune the car and achieved the better numbers.

To comment on the second part, we ask consideration to be taken when comparing dyno numbers. Peak numbers alone don't always cut it. There is a widely known discrepancy in dyno readings between the mustang and dynopack dynos. Temp, humidity, and elevation play a factor in it too.

A lot of the comparisons seem to be being made between results from a JCW and those of a MCS as well. Peak psi on the current MCS maps we use is only 17-18.5. On a turbo that puts out less then the JCW already there should be an obvious expectation in numbers. Again dyno discrepancy may play some part here, but take a look at the dyno charts posted by other members with MCS's and make some comparisons to get an idea. Our cars are making upwards of 20 HP and any where from 5-10 lb ft more TQ then cars with similar mods. It may not seem like a HUGE difference, but on a 1.6 to make that much more power over another exhaust is big. Even some of the JCW's with similar mods are still making close to 20 HP less then this MCS.

Also take a look again at the graph we posted too. It says a lot more then just peak numbers. Torque peaks at 500-1000 RPM earlier then most of the other graphs up right now. It also stays close to peak farther though it's RPM range and drops off less towards the end. HP is also very linear and strong, even after taking some loss in peak power to improve the TQ power band. Prior to this adjustment this car hit up wards of 248 HP during tuning.

Now I know this may all may be considered irrelevant with out the hard data that is to come and that is understandable, but I hope it will give a better understanding of what we have done.

Yeah some graphs of a before and after on a stock mcs would give very gd indications on the improvements this gives.

Im skeptical on how much better this can be esp at this price. But am more than happy to be proven wrong!

Agree'd Once This Exhaust System Is Thrown On A Stock Car To See The Gains Solely On This MOD Then We Will See If It Is Worth The 1500... If You Guys Didn't Have All This Information To Share Why Did You Try To Push The Product On Us ?! You Didn't Really Expect The Mini Community To Jump On This Without Solid Proof Of Power Gains Did You ? All The Big Ball Hitters Like ALTA And RMW Show Graphs Of Power Gains When They Release Their Products. As Of Now Your Power Gains Are All Hear Say And If You Don't Start Proving Your Numbers Then Everyone On Here Will See Right Through This Over Priced Item And There Goes Your Sales Pitch.... Other Than That Looking Forward To See What You Guys Can Do...:thumbsup:

Although I can appreciate the effort, that's one hefty price to pay for a very simple exhaust system. No catalysts means it should be even less expensive and without a resoundingly SWEET sound and good power delta, you may consider lowering the price. I mean this with the best of intent...

Of course, it should also be noted that the downpipe likely is where the power will be made. I would reason to believe that this exhaust, after the downpipe, is no different than any other 2.5" system. Please post up some high fidelity pictures and some sound clips.

Also why waste so much money building it, and polishing the entire thing? Why not just make it black and polish the tips? How many people go "hay lets lay on the ground and try to look at my really shiny exhaust" I basically have the exact same thing and i payed about 400 for it.

My Review
 

::ABF Tech Division Downpipe and Exhaust::

I have only had my MCS for Approx 2 and a half months and I got on modding it ASAP, just like i did with my previous BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Subie, ETC... counter parts. WHen I got the MCS I was going to go and just get generic products, but before I could go out and just buy some generic parts, I started falling in love with the vehicle in general. Yeah its not the size of my e90 M-Tech or the style of my e36 M3 and it would fit in the trunk of my Mercedes e350 Key to the Cure Edition, but it is what it is... a performance vehicle. I started doing some research about different products and items to let my MCS better represent me. Well right off the bat, I started talking to Alta, RMW, M7 and a few others. I was happy with what I was hearing from most people but I felt that I was being limited by having such a small selection of items. I kept looking and a member of this forum brought up ABF Tech Division. I called them and started talking to Dez and Mike from TD, and im glad I did. The customer support is excellent and their mindset is right where mine is, "lets make power and get these things on the track". What better company to produce products for my car, then a company that holds track records in Cali and in Nevada. So I dove in, I purchased the Turbo back exhaust and Cobb Accessport from them.

Verdict: :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
Tone at Idle: :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
Tone at throttle: :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
Tone at Cruise: :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
Quality: :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
Ease of Install: :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

I have had it on for about a month now and the tone is deep and throaty. It gets a little loud when you get on it, but what do you expect from a catless race exhaust. Installation was a breeze after I removed the heatshield. The quality is unmatched and I couldnt be happier with the product. I have photos of the product when I received it and when I installed it below. If you are looking for a high quality exhaust and great customer service this is the company and the exhaust to go with.

I thought it was pricey when I first received the price; however, when I started looking around and was planing to design my own exhaust and downpipe replicating the alta version the parts and tools to replicate would be pretty close to what i would pay to buy a quality exhaust. I hear a lot of people talking about price, but you have to look at your car.... It is a BMW, not a honda civic. Unfortunately for quality you have to pay, and I had to learn that the hard way in my early years.

Ill post Dyno results when I have my full stage 3 set up after I get back from my hospital rotation in VA. So expect some numbers end of April.

Damon Wilson
Deleo-Omnia Motoring
"As Easy as It Gets"

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5136/...3090d9edbd.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5019/...0e4eb10e07.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5292/...7902904992.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5054/...12d62a398c.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5252/...d21c531c7d.jpg

Installed:
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5140/...4576f9f20b.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5254/...5e9966c038.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5094/...c75691abd3.jpg

:grin: Thanks Dez and Mike!

Cleaned the car and did a small shoot today - Pictures Posted in coupe talk

1 Month after install.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5056/...85aee77ed3.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5298/...0e1feb8d0c.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5013/...b348b16045.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5258/...156e03fd10.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5255/...d527e45a02.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5256/...3415bf58eb.jpg

"do work"

Nice sales pitch but what good are dyno graphs AFTER your stage 3? :roll:

Oh, and if you came anywhere near $1500 trying to duplicate an Alta turbo back system, you were doing something wrong.

I can't quite understand why these guys would release this system to the forum scrutiny without taking the time to do a basic dyno that they could show everyone? How hard would it have been to simply add the exhaust to a MCS and do before and after dynos? Am I missing something here? As it stands now, it makes them look like they can't back up what they are claiming and in turn justify their much higher cost, pretty polishing of the system not-with-standing... :roll:

First impressions can be crucial in this limited market.

My original dyno is already on the forum you can look it up :wink:. as for the parts... overall it is about 600 dollars in parts but not good parts, ie. ebay products. then you have to buy a welder. 300-600 and then you have to buy a bender.. i think i found one for 150ish.. now mathematically im looking at 1050... then with time and effort we are looking a few hours... so easily we have 1500 work of work in one sitting. You seem to be pretty bold with your ability to produce products, as I am also, but when I look at my time and the effort i would have to put in putting a project like that together in the end it is just worth it to buy a good exhaust and not worry if your welds are going to hold or if the v bands you want to use are cheap or even how the overall performance of the item you just made is even going to work.

It wouldnt matter if i dynoed now because it is already partially modded. I have not had a stock MCS from the day I bought it and started modding two days after. So the end all be all goal is max HP. If the ABF Exhaust gets me where I want my numbers well then it works.

might I ask what you are running right now? The reason I cant get the stage 2 dyno is the small issue of me leaving wednesday to go work in a hospital for 30 days :sad: so by the time i get back my new parts will be in. if my FMIC is not complete by then i will go dyno with my generic stage 2 map and then again with the ABF Tech Division Map.

I feel like most peoples 1st mod isnt an exhaust because of the cost involved. Intakes, Tubes things like that are more practical. If you want to come here and help me take my mods off and just leave the exhaust on I can get you a exhaust only dyno sheet. :wink: If you want to pay for every pull on the dyno and my time to take off and reinstall parts i will give you dyno results for every part on the car. :grin: Im a consumer, just like the rest of these guys on here. Good products cost good money and coming from the BMW crowd the prices for any mods on the mini are pretty reasonable. Except maybe the AP... I wish it was 500 like my subie.

feel free to PM me about my experience with the exhaust so far. Right now with my current set up i am running 13.8 1/4mi on generic tune.

Excuse me? Are you some how affiliated with the company selling the exhaust? If so, I didn't realise that. I thought you were one of the early adopters. If you are affiliated with the company, then why would I have any obligation at all to help you with the dynos? If you are not affiliated, then my questioning of a lack of dyno results is not directed at you at all. It is up to the company selling their products to put forth a good effort to back up their claims, not mine. The fact that you plan on getting a dyno after your stage 3, is no help at all in determining if this exhaust lives up to their vaunted claims. As I said before, it would have been very simple for the company to do before and after dynos on an unmodified MCS and posted them along with their sales pitch. You still have not given a reason why that was not done, assuming you and the company are one and the same.

Its all good, sorry I didnt realize how new you were to this. Let me try a different approach. I see you are "planning" on getting a FMIC, Exhaust, Downpipe, Accessport... etc, etc...

Used 08 with JCW Exhaust set up... something like that.... The thing that would benefit you most would to be to give one of the guys at ABF a call. I dont know the specs of the exhaust but I know I am happy with the overall product. Call Riss Racing, Call Alta... so on and so forth, when you speak to a person you can listen in and read through the bull a lot easier then expecting to get all your answers from a forum. I hope your search for the "right exhaust" for you works out well; however, from reading some of your posts it seems as if you need to do a little more research on your own before you look to criticize any brand offered for mini.

Research will help you find all the answers you are looking for.

So how is work in the middle east? Iraq? What unit are you with?

Lol....this thread is comedy!

:popcorn:

SO umm....still hasn't been said, why is this exhaust worth $1500?

So, didn't answer a single question I had. Typical, I guess you are shilling for this company. I'll mark these guys off my list now. Thanks.

Yeah, I really want to know but so far the comapny and its shills can't or won't answer. Typical really, make some claims but don't back it up except with pretty pictures and stage 3 mods?! What the good is that? If I am spending money on a product is it not expected that I be given an idea of what will be gained when using the product or am I being unreasonable? I mean it is only $1500 so maybe I am being unreasonable about this...:roll: